Pebbles in the pond

Learning Their Orders

Part 46 of the ongoing saga of The Great Being, the One Self that manifests as each of us

We have been following the experiences of two Agents of Cosmic Intelligence, Melchizedek and Layla, here on a mission that started in 200,000 BC. As Blu and Ska, they are now well into their new life, around 40,000 BC in the mountains of northwestern Spain. At this point of the story, our Agents are no longer conscious of their true identities; the new brain has taken over their souls — for now. Previous episodes

In the last episode, Stari-ki was helping Aldus to regain his memories of his true rebel identity. We hear his convoluted story of the Creation from Lucifer’s point of view, calling The Great Being “the backstabber” because he proclaimed himself the One and Only God. Then we learn the rebel mission: to destroy the backstabber and become sole masters of the universe. Meanwhile, in his tent with Izbel, Blu has woken up and is wondering about the woman in his dream and her message: “We have to wake up.”

The first light of dawn crept across his eyelids, fluttering them, and Blu came semi-awake behind still-closed eyes. The grass bed felt extra comfortable. He remembered the meeting with Stari-ki and felt good. The new King was going to make things better for him and Izbel. Maybe they could now risk having children. He’d have to wait to find out before saying anything to Izbel.

Melchizedek was there too, though now hypnotized into believing he was Blu, along for the ride as an observer but not aware of his own separate existence.

In a nearby tent, Ska was already awake and ardently making love to Asa. He was surprised that this time he felt so merged with Asa as souls, aware of each other. He could see it in her eyes too, but he wouldn’t break the spell by speaking to ask if she felt the same way. Funny, I feel like a woman too, he thought.

Layla was present but felt herself to be Asa. Like Melchizedek, she had none of Layla’s memories accessible to remind her of her true identity.

Suddenly Ska’s keen senses warned him of an intruder and he rolled off Asa into a fighting crouch outside the leafy tent. There before him was Stari-ki, towering over him and grinning. Asa was visible to both men, in a moment of frozen tableau with no movement. Then Asa slightly covered herself. Ska wondered if Stari-ki would want Asa. Stari-ki read that thought and grinned more widely, looked again at Asa to tease Ska, then back at Ska who held a poker face. Stari-ki laughed out loud. Ska thought to himself, how stealthy for such a large man,for me not to have been aware of him sooner.

“Sorry to have to take him away from you so early, Asa,” Stari-ki said, putting a huge arm around Ska, who had always considered himself huge but not compared to Blu and now especially Stari-ki. But he liked Stari-ki and welcomed his arrival and willingness to let them live.

“I understand, Stari-ki,” Asa said demurely. Stari-ki did not want anyone to call him King; he preferred his own name. The survivors had all learned that very quickly.

When they arrived seconds later at Blu’s tent, Blu was up and ready to go. His hearing was, like Ska’s, amazing, and something they were both proud of. He had figured out the scene from the tone of the voices in the next tent.

“I’m going to share some information with you,” Stari-ki said. “It’s secret and not to be shared with anyone except your wives.” They were both glad to hear they would be able to let their mates know everything, which Stari-ki knew by reading their minds. He had not been getting any signal from our Agents, Melchizedek or Layla. These were two smart and strong men and he needed them, and he knew they saw him as a good thing too. Now he needed to train them with enough information to maximize their value to him, but not more information than they needed. Stari-ki was driven by his orders, and nothing else mattered.

He led them away from the encampment and to the edge of a cliff that looked down at a wide river in which the setting moon was reflected. They sat admiring the view while learning their orders.

“We are part of a larger army that is taking over this entire world,” Stari-ki began. This entirely blew their minds. They had no sense of how big this entire world was, or what was in it, but they had the feeling that it was too big to get their heads around. They felt outclassed, though grateful to be in on something so grandiose. And they felt grateful for men like Stari-ki who could lead them into becoming something greater themselves than they had ever imagined.

Melchizedek and Layla watched like hypnotized children, fully absorbed in the identities of Blu and Ska, respectively. Unaware of Melchizedek and Layla, Stari-ki read Blu’s and Ska’s minds like a book, and he smiled. He liked these guys and they were too good to leave with Aldus. They were exactly the kind of savages he needed to help him succeed.

Stari-ki thought of himself as an avatar of Lucifer. And why should he not think of himself that way, since it was obvious looking at him that he was more than human. He often had this thought, reduced to a wordless feeling.

“My mission is to set up armies along the great water to our west,” Stari-ki said. Blu and Ska remembered the awesome great water. Stari-ki’s troops had driven Blu and Ska and their men into that great water where all but Blu and Ska drowned. In their hearts they once again thanked God for sparing them that time too.

“We will be moving out tomorrow, leaving Aldus in charge here with instructions about setting up an army to hold this piece of the coastline.” They noticed the way he said “we” and wondered if he was planning to take them or leave them here to support Aldus. “You two and your wives will come with me. You’re going to be my right and left arm.”

Blu and Ska looked at each other, nodding in excitement but trying to appear unruffled and calm. Something else passed between them, coming from an intuition that somehow slipped out of Melchizedek and through their eyes created an ultra-brief link between Melchizedek and Layla and then disappeared, leaving no trace of a memory.

“Stari-ki,” Blu said, breaking the silence that Stari-ki had apparently left for them to fill. “There is one thing we have to show you before we go.” Blu did not know why he had this sudden conviction that it would be important to show this to Stari-ki, but it was irrepressible. It was going to help with the new mission, he knew that. It was a training method. He got up to indicate he was taking them somewhere, and they followed. Ska got it right away from the direction they started walking.